Bristol's statue of slave trader Edward Colton was torn down by demonstrators on June 7th during an anti-racism protest. On July 15th artist Marc Quinn erected a sculpture of activist Jen Reid, which has now also been taken down. Scroll down to see what people's thoughts are on the subject.
"This morning we removed the sculpture. It will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection," Bristol City Council tweeted on Thursday, July 16th. City Mayor, Marvin Rees said "the future of the plinth and what is installed on it must be decided by the people of Bristol." He also said it will be very difficult to bring together those who are happy about the Colston statue being removed, those who agree with its removal but disagree with the way it was done and those who feel that with the removal of the statue they've lost a part of the city as well as themselves.
Quinn's statue of Reid depicts the protestor on top of the empty plinth just as she did on June 7th, with her fist up in the air. The artist said the statue "is an embodiment and amplification of Jen's ideas and experiences, and of the past, present and her hope for a better future." The art piece was named "A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020". Quinn said that if the statue were sold he would donate the money to 2 charities chosen by Reid.